Kiss Me
by Iron Angel 80
Summary: This a story of the days leading up to Bill and Fleur's wedding from Hermione's POV
1. The Next Move

A/N: I own nothing, these wonderful charactors belong to JKR, I just borrow them from time to time.

Hermione Granger leaned against Ginny's bedroom window frame and gazed out of it at two young men de-gnoming the garden below. One was her best friend and the other was the man she was secretly in love with. Well…maybe not quite secretly.

Ron grabbed a gnome by the ankles, swung it in circles over his head and launched it over the garden wall. Hermione let out a sigh of longing and slumped against the window.

"You know Hermione, you could always make the first move." Hermione spun around to find Ginny standing behind her with a basket of clean laundry in her arms. Hermione hadn't even heard her approach.

"I can't do that Ginny." She said softly.

"Hermione, I love my brother dearly but he's as thick as a concussed troll. You might be eighty by the time he figures it out." Ginny came to stand next to her at the window and gazed out at the two outside. Ron may as well not even have been out there, Ginny had eyes only for Harry. "They're both idiots" she sighed.

"Ron's getting better though, he's been very thoughtful lately and he's always complimenting me now. Besides, you shouldn't be too hard on Harry, he thinks he's protecting you."

Ginny snorted. "Protecting me? His breaking up with me was for my protection? What a load of bull." Ginny had abandoned her laundry basket now and was pacing the room in agitation. "The whole school knew we were seeing each other, and the only ones that know we split up are in this house. How many death eater wanna-be's were in that school and would love to sell information to you-know-who for his favor? Malfoy probably already did." She slumped onto her bed, buried her face in her hands and muttered "Mum keeps us all busy with the wedding preparations, keeping us inside and them out, I can't even get the chance to talk to him, it's horrible."

Hermione sat next to her friend and put her arm around her shoulders. "How on earth did two smart witches like our selves loose our hearts to those two?"

Ginny gave a sad laugh, "we didn't loose out hearts, we gave them away willingly. Now they play Quidditch with them, tossing them in the air like a quaffle, leaving us to hope they catch them again before they smash to pieces on the pitch." She spat bitterly.

Hermione threw her hands up in the air, "You Weasley's and your Quidditch analogies, I swear I don't understand how you can relate all of life's issues to that sport." She exclaimed, exasperated.

"When you love the game…" Ginny trailed off and fell back on her bed.

"You're as bad as your brother, you know that don't you?"

Ginny threw her pillow at her without looking and got her square in the face. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked at Hermione. "I think I'll try to get Harry alone tomorrow, it's his birthday after all, and mum can't make him work all day." She paused, "I may need you to keep Ron busy for me. You don't know how bad he behaved when he found out that Harry ended it, you'd have thought that Harry had dumped him instead of me. Ron's been as bad as mum in trying to keep us apart."

"I'll do what I can, but if he knows you're with Harry there isn't much I can do to keep him away."

"Oh, just pin him up against the wall and snog the hell out of him. That would be a great first move on your part actually, no room for misinterpretation. Even a git like Ron would get the hint." Ginny laughed.

"I told you, the next move will not be made by me." Hermione ground out.

Ginny sat up, excitement written clear across her face. "The _next_ move?" she questioned, "what's happened already that there's a _next_ move?"

"Nothing, I didn't mean it like that." She snapped.

"Don't give me that rubbish Hermione Granger, you are not one to use words improperly." Ginny was never one to back away from an argument. "What did you two do?"

"Just drop it, okay?" Hermione pleaded, but Ginny wasn't letting up.

She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "No. You confide to me at night about how you wish Ron would show some interest in you and I try to give you advice, and here you are with-holding information from me!"

"I've listened to you go on about Harry!"

"And you told me to loosen up and be myself. That he'd come around, and he did." A hurt look crossed her face, "I don't keep secrets from you."

Hermione sighed, she knew when she was defeated. "It was Slughorn's Christmas party last year, alright? I invited Ron as my date, he accepted, and then he started dating that awful Lavender Brown."

"And that's why you stopped talking to him for months. That idiot! Why didn't anyone tell me about that?"

"Because my pride was bruised enough as it was, and I didn't need you running off and hexing your brother on my account." Hermione said dejectedly. "Besides, it's over and done with now" she paused and added "and the _next_ move will be his, not mine."

"Ginny? Hermione? Are you two up there?" Molly Weasley called up the stairs. "I've got more chores for you to do."

"Enough with the frigging chores mum!" Ginny cursed under her breath.

"Tell me about it. I'm starting to feel like Cinderella" Hermione said while rolling her eyes.

"What's that? An illness?"

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Come on, we don't want her coming up here looking for us." She grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her towards the door.


	2. Harry's Birthday

Hermione ran down the stairs the next morning with a small wrapped package in her hands. It was Harry's birthday present and she'd gotten him a new sneakoscope. She thought it would come in very handy when they left after the wedding on the Horcrux hunt.

She reached the kitchen and it was already full of people. "Happy birthday, Harry!" She exclaimed as she added her own present to the pile. "It's not much, but I hope you like it. So what did you get him?" she asked Ron, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"Come on, then, open Hermione's!" said Ron.

After Harry had opened up several more gifts, the kitchen had become very crowded. "I'll pack these for you," She added brightly as she took the packages out of Harry's arms and led the way up the stairs.

Ginny was waiting on the first landing outside her room. "Harry, will you come in here a moment?" Harry had a nervous look on his face and Ron was spluttering, so Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and tugged him on up the stairs to give Harry and Ginny a few minutes alone like she promised she would. Ginny's door shut and Ron found his voice.

"He can't go in there!"

"I think he just did Ronald."

"Well, he shouldn't be in there!" He whispered vehemently.

"And why's that?" Hermione had dropped Harry's gifts on the landing and was still tugging on Ron's elbow. He was very close and he smelled of aftershave.

"Because that's her bedroom!" He insisted. "It's not proper."

"Proper?" Hermione laughed. "How many times have I been in your room Ronald Weasley?" She accused. "More times than I can count and there was nothing improper about it."

"That's different." His handsome face was turning red, always a bad sign.

"How?" She demanded.

"Because they still fancy each other, that's how." He bit back.

Hermione's stomach fell, he had pretty much just said that he didn't fancy her and that's why it was okay for her to be in his room. She dropped his arm and turned away from him, not wanting him to see her cry at what he just said.

She started to run up the stairs, only making it two steps when he caught her by the hand and spun her around. Still holding her hand he climbed to the step just beneath hers. He was so tall that that made his eyes level with hers.

"Hermione I…" he trailed off. His blue eyes were searching her brown ones and she willed them not to start watering. "I didn't…that's not…you're…" He took her other hand in his.

His face was so close all she could see was him, all she could smell was him, his lips were inches away from her own. She was temped to take Ginny's advice and pin him to the wall. _'Kiss me,'_ she thought, _'just lean in and kiss me. I can't do it Ron, you have to. Kiss me."_ Her breathing sped up and she was sure that he could hear her heart pounding. He was so close. _'This is it'_

A muffled sound from Ginny's room ruined the moment and Ron tore away from her. She raced after him but was unable to stop him from ripping open Ginny's door and from seeing her with Harry, entwined together in a passionate kiss.

"Oh," said Ron pointedly. "Sorry."

"Ron!" Hermione gasped.

"Well, happy birthday anyway, Harry." Ginny said in small voice.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Ron was steaming, Ginny looked close to tears, and Harry was looking at Ginny with the saddest look Hermione had ever seen. "I'll see you later," he said to Ginny as he followed Ron out the door.

Hermione hurried after them, fearful that they were going to come to blows and she would have to stun them if they started to fight. An intense argument in the yard followed where the two boys had their say, and Harry promised to leave Ginny alone.

As Harry stalked off, looking utterly mutinous, Hermione rounded on Ron. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Don't be thick with me, Ronald, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about!" She chastised him. "You had no right barging in there! How could you?"

"She's upset, he might have taken advantage of her."

Hermione placed her hands on her hips. "Don't be ridiculous! Harry would never do something like that. Besides, Ginny doesn't need, nor wants, you protecting her. All she wanted was a few minutes with him to sort things out and you couldn't let her have that." She started to walk away to find Ginny to comfort her when she turned around and said "You may find this surprising, but Ginny isn't a little girl anymore Ron, she's tougher than you think. Maybe you should stop looking at her as your baby sister and start looking at her as your friend."

Hermione stalked off leaving Ron standing in the yard with his mouth open, and for once, he had no argument left in him.


	3. The Wedding

The day of the wedding arrived. Hermione and Ginny took all morning getting ready, helping each other with their hair, make-up, and dresses. Hermione had to admit to herself when she was done that they looked good.

"Ron won't know what hit him." Ginny exclaimed as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind Hermione's ear. They had used loads of hair straightening potion on it so that it elegantly framed her face.

"Neither will Harry" she responded. Ginny looked gorgeous in her pale gold gown and her shiny tomato red hair hanging straight down her back. She had refused a lot of make-up and Hermione had to agree that she didn't really need it.

Hermione hugged her best friend and whispered "I really did try to stop Ron yesterday Gin, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, maybe Harry and I will be able to sneak off during the reception to pick up where we left off."

"You mean Barney. And it probably wouldn't look to good if you disappear into the dark with someone who's posing as your cousin."

"No, I suppose not. 'Though it would give Auntie Muriel something to gossip about." Ginny laughed.

There was a ton of excitement in the house and Molly Weasley had checked in on them twice to make sure they were getting ready, forgetting that she had been in there already once before.

Hermione would never forget the first time she met the infamous Muriel Weasley. It was no wonder she had never married, she was an awful shrew of a woman. She had looked Hermione over like she was a dog on display at the Kennel show, criticizing her posture and ankles. Imagine, criticizing someone's ankles! She was tempted to give an un-happy bark but her parents would have been mortified if they knew she was rude to an elderly woman. Though they were safely hidden in Australia, Hermione couldn't purposely disappoint them, they had raised her to be a lady. She kept her mouth shut but was revolted that she treated Fleur the same way. How could anyone say anything uncomplimentary to the bride, especially one who was as radiant as Fleur?

Hermione made her way out to the pavilion where the boys were doing usher duty. She paused a moment to take in Ron's appearance so that she wouldn't blabber like an idiot when she got up to him. Simply put, he looked great. His tall lean frame was accentuated well by his dark dress robes. His fiery hair a beacon in the fading light, and his wide easy smile was hard to turn away from. Hermione noticed several French girls eying up Ron and his brothers, she would have to surreptitiously stay close to him to keep them from moving in on him. This was going to be her night.

As she got closer, Ron turned and looked at her. The look on his face was worth the hours of preparation, his mouth was open and he was staring dumbfound at her. "Wow…you look great!"

"Always the tone of surprise" she said and she flashed him a perfect smile. Having parents that were dentists paid off sometimes.

Then a wrench was thrown in the works, as the muggles say, when Viktor Krum showed up. Hermione was overwhelmed by the memory of their last face to face encounter when he had kissed her good-bye before boarding the Durmstrang ship after Cedric's funeral. She had been crying and he held her to his chest, stroking her hair. He had pulled back from her slightly, cupped her chin, and gently kissed her on the lips. He had made her feel so special; she wanted Ron to take charge and kiss her like that.

"You look vunderful" he said to her.

"Viktor… how lovely to see you." She was stuttering and felt like and idiot because she knew Ron was watching them very closely. The last thing she wanted was Ron to think she still had feelings for Viktor, she hadn't known that he'd been invited and he'd taken her by surprise.

"Fleur invited me." He responded to Ron, who looked ready to curse him. Hermione had missed what Ron said to him but no doubt it had been rude.

"I'll show you to your seat" said Harry, disguised as a red-headed Weasley relative. Hermione whispered a quick prayer of thanks that Harry had the sense to keep those two apart.

Fred and George came up behind Ron, whose face was a little flushed, and told them to get to their seats before mum started firing curses at them for still being in the isle.

"Come on," Ron said as he took her elbow and lead her to their seats in the second row behind Fred and George.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. Several times she wished Ron would hold her hand, she was too nervous to take his. Images of them on the stairs the morning before kept intruding on her thoughts. The closeness of his lips to hers and the built up tension between them, she didn't imagine that, she knew she didn't. All she wanted was for him to take a firm hand in the matter and let her know he wanted her, was that too much to ask? For once she wanted him to make her feel desired, that he felt the same way about her that she felt for him. That she hadn't wasted the last couple years dropping subtle hints that she was interested in him far more than as a friend. She had felt like she was throwing herself at him, surely he knew; everyone else seemed to. Ginny had told her the week before that she had overheard Fred and George placing a bet with each other about when Ron would wise up and ask her out, and that the book should help move him along. Ginny didn't know what book they were talking about because Ron didn't willingly read anything that didn't have Quidditch stats in it.

The ceremony was over and she had missed most of it while lost in her reverie. The neat isles of delicate chairs disappeared and were replaced by tables. Waiters scurried about with drinks and food, while Ron snagged a couple of butterbeers and scanned the tent for and empty table. He led the way to a table far from Muriel, to Hermione's relief.

They sat with Luna, who Hermione liked although she tended to get frustrated when the younger girl started going on about her Ministry conspiracies and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Ron was beside her and Hermione wasn't paying attention to the conversation because Ron's arm was brushing warmly against her own and he was looking at her out of the corner of his eye. He smelled of that aftershave that she had come to associate with him. Even though Harry used the same kind, it always seemed to smell better on Ron.

The air in the tent was warm and still, Hermione was getting lost in Ron's scent. She found she was leaning more towards Ron than she had been before, and he didn't look displeased. Luna got up and made her way to the dance floor where she turned in slow circles by herself, waving her hands about her head. Ron and Harry were saying something but she wasn't paying attention, she was thinking about how she would like it if Ron would ask her to dance. _'Don't be so stupid, Hermione, he hates dancing.'_ Then Viktor was there and Ron was telling Viktor that Xenophilius Lovegood was the father of a friend of theirs and Ron was getting red in the ears.

"Come and dance" he said to Hermione, holding out his hand. She took it and followed him out on to the dance floor and tried not to look too pleased with herself.

It was a dream-come-true for her. He was holding her close to him out on the floor in-between the other dancing couples. One hand was on her waist and the other had a firm but gentle grip on her hand. Her free hand was on his shoulder and was being tickled by the longish hairs at the base of his neck. The music was slow and lovely and he moved his hand from her waist to the small of her back, pulling her even closer to him. Song after song played and still he kept dancing with her, no mater what tempo the beat was, he held her close and they swayed gently to the music.

'_Kiss me.'_

He was so close.

'_Kiss me.'_

He was whispering in her ear that she was the most beautiful girl there. His warm breath tickled the stray strands of hair near her ear. Her knees would have buckled if his arm hadn't been wrapped so tightly about her.

'_Kiss me.'_

He was looking at her so intently.

'_Kiss me.'_

"Hermione," he whispered in her ear, "it's getting crowded in here, do you fancy a walk? I don't think I've ever shown you the pond where we used to swim."

"That sounds lovely." She was trying hard not to let her voice crack in her excitement. "Why don't you get us some drinks to take with us while I let Harry know we're going for stroll."

"Good idea, I don't want him getting worried and coming to look for us." He winked at her and headed for the refreshment table.

She was breathing hard, it was finally going to happen. There was no misinterpretation about the look he had given her.

She saw Harry at side table with a small elderly wizard and Auntie Muriel. She dropped into an adjacent chair and pulled off her shoes. "I simply can't dance any more," she panted. "Ron's gone looking to find more butterbeers. I just saw Viktor storming away from Luna's father, it looked as if they'd been arguing." Harry didn't look like he was paying attention to her. "Harry, are you okay?"

She was about to tell him about her and Ron going for a walk when a silvery lynx patronus fell through the canopy and said in Kingsley's slow deep voice, _"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."_

Then the screaming started.


End file.
